Darker Than Shadows
by Ali Ami Umi
Summary: "Shadow Magic is hardly the most powerful magic out there. Shadows are weak. They depend on light in order to exist. I can give you something more powerful. Power that you deserve. Power that relies on no one." The voice cooed. "Wh-what are you talking about?" "Child, I can give you the power of Darkness." AU, slight OOC, OCs. Early friendship anniversary present for CODH.
1. Chapter 1

Darker than Shadows

Chapter 1

The most dangerous part of the day at the Yami-Hikari household was the scramble before leaving for school. Lunches were argued over, a broom would be swung for everyone to make their beds, clothes hurriedly put on or adjusted, homework crammed into back packs, breakfast haphazardly eaten, and at least one death threat being muttered at all times.

Once everyone had gathered their things, one of the crucial parts of the day would be decided: The seating arrangement in the car for the day.

"It's my day as driver!"

"Shotty!"

"I call window!" "Me too!"

"Center seat!"

"Not bitch!"

"Wait, where's Ali?"

"No no no no wait! I call- … I hate you all…"

Crammed between Bakura and Malik was not the most ideal seating arrangement for the drive to school. In fact, it was the farthest from ideal due to the fact that not only was Alison stuck between the two psychopaths, but she was also on the hump in the back row of the car.

"It's your own fault, you know." Ryou scolded her from the driver's seat "If you'd set out your bag the night before, you wouldn't have to scramble to get it ready right before we leave. Ergo, you'd have a chance at getting a decent seat. Honestly, you've gotten that spot for more than a month straight."

As they rounded a turn, Alison blew Bakura's white hair out of her face before leaning over and sticking her tongue out so Ryou could see from the rearview mirror.

"Yes, mommy."

A.J laughed from shotgun, rolling her eyes as Ryou muttered "She's definitely your hikari…"

While the car was idle at a red light, Marik tried to brush his hair without elbowing Yugi or Yami in the head.

"Marik, watch it, you almost got me with that one." Yami said, ducking in his seat.

"Sorry, Yami." He said apologetically. Ryou was trying to bargain with A.J to have her look over his homework to make sure it looked good as he began driving again. A.J simply plugged in her iPod, opting to ignore him. All three in the back row had fallen back asleep. Malik and Bakura were leaning against the window and Alison was leaning her head back, arms crossed to avoid any contact with the two crazies.

Yugi looked back at them and chuckled to himself as Marik finally put his brush away.

Once they reached Domino High, fifteen minutes early thanks to Ryou's dedication to punctuality (it being the only reason he'd ever drive faster than the speed limit), they all spilled out of the car. Yugi stayed in the car, cautiously rousing the three in the backseat from their sleep.

"We're here." He said as they blinked themselves awake.

"Oh joy…" Malik muttered sarcastically, climbing over the seats in front to get out. After a minute to make sure they had everything, Alison, Bakura, and Yugi all exited the car and closed the door.

"Well, 138 days down, 57 to go." Bakura said as they re-grouped with the rest of the family. Before a conversation could start, Joey came in and crammed himself inside the little circle they had formed, Seto standing off to the side pointedly ignoring the group. After a few minutes, Duke joined in the group too.

"Can ya guys believe dat they're actually lettin' us misfits into da aquarium again?" Joey asked, dangling with his arms wrapped around Yami and Ryou.

"No, I can't. Especially after that little fiasco we caused at there last year." Bakura smirked. "Are you sure they didn't say 'everyone in the school may go except for the Yami-Hikari group, Joey, Tristan and Duke?"

"I'm sure!" Joey insisted. "That reminds me. Seto! Can I bum some money? They have cool shit in the gift shops at fancy places like this."

Seto just sighed and shook his head slightly "You know I can buy you whatever you want, you don't need to ask for money."

"Yeah, but I feel more important if I buy my own stuff even if it's on borrowed money."

With that, the bell rang and everyone hurried to their homeroom classes inside. Afterwards the school would depart by grade to various locations for field trip week. The next day, the schedule would rotate so by the end of the week, everyone had visited every place.

While the homeroom teacher lectured about expected behavior, a paper war was started between a few certain yamis, hikaris, Joey, and Tristan.

"Hey, no fair, using Shadow Magic is cheating!" Tristan whispered furiously. Yugi jokingly stuck his tongue out and launched another shadow strengthened paper star at the brunette. Marik and Bakura launched a few smaller paper balls to avoid detection of the teacher.

Alison looked back at the paper war going on, then turned back and glowered slightly at her notebook sitting on the desk. Ripping out a page and crumpling it up, she tried to use Shadow Magic to make it fly back at one of the boys, but barely managed to make it float up two inches before it fell and skittered off the desk.

Despite months of practicing, the only time Alison could manage any decent Shadow Magic was when she was on a caffeine or sugar high. Any other time, it was like her Shadow Magic was nonexistent.

"Alright students, be sure to bring the items I've listed on the board and any other essentials you'll need for the day. If you so wish you can bring your backpack, but we will be coming back with enough time to grab them before school ends." Said the teacher.

A screech of seats being pushed back and the rustling of backpacks sounded through the classroom as everyone got ready. A few girls discreetly slipped on some more comfortable shoes for a full day of walking.

"Now remember class, you are to be on your _best behavior."_ The teacher warned, giving the evil eye to the group in the back. A.J rolled her eyes as she grabbed her wallet.

"Come on, lets just go already." She muttered as they joined the flood of students leaving for the hallway.

After spending fifteen minutes making sure the students were in their correct class groups, it was another ten minute walk to the aquarium. When they finally got there, they all collected their visitors passes. In previous years, students were free to wander around on their own and spend the day learning at their own pace. But this year, due to an accident involving a cracked glass, several star fish, and Bakura in the large fish tank containing more than a few sharks, everyone was separated into even smaller groups before going off with a guide.

"Nice. The glass is a good two inches thicker." Bakura noted, knocking on said glass lightly.

"Please do not tap the glass, sir." The guide warned before continuing his lecture. Bakura rolled his eyes and was about to summon the shadows to make a small crack in the seal when A.J took his hand and shook her head.

"Not in public." She said. Bakura nodded before following the rest of the group as they moved to the jellyfish exhibit.

Author's Note

Okay, this was originally going to be posted as a friendship anniversary present, but I can't keep letting it sit on my desktop until November. So I hope you don't mind it being posted early! ^^;


	2. Chapter 2

Darker than Shadows

Chapter 2

"Well _that_ was boring," Groaned Bakura, flopping himself down on the couch and kicking off his sneakers. "Honestly, I'm glad they don't quiz you on this stuff because I was sleepwalking at one point."

"I hear ya." Malik agreed, tossing Bakura a Dr. Pepper.

"Thanks," The albino said before popping the top.

"Really, you two, all you do is whinge whenever it comes to you learning something." Ryou said, setting his back pack down and taking his shoes off at the doorway.

"Now, that is not true," Malik argued "We got plenty excited when PE was archery."

"Or when we got to learn about Medieval torture." Bakura added.

"You know what I mean…" Ryou mumbled under his breath before hurrying to check the fridge to make sure he'd have everything for making dinner.

"Welp, seeing as theres no homework, I think I'll watch some television until dinner." A.J said, stepping out of her room in her casual clothes. "Budge over, fluffy." She said, sitting on the couch and lightly pushing Bakura's feet off. When he tried to put his feet on her lap, A.J pushed them off again and smirked while Bakura grumbled "Spoilsport."

When Marik emerged from his room, he carried several kitchen knives and took a detour to deposit them.

"Malik! What did I say about using kitchen knives as throwing knives!" Ryou complained.

"The smooth, small throwing knives weren't good enough! Chunky, serrated blades make for good accuracy practice!" Malik shouted back, joining A.J and Bakura on the couch, joined a second later by his hikari Marik.

After Alison had changed into something more comfortable, she sleepily made her way to the kitchen and began brewing a pot of coffee.

"You need coffee now?" Yugi asked, sitting at the dining room table with his deck and just one shoebox full of cards.

"Could get any th-th-this morning," Alison yawned, rubbing her eyes "I felt dead all day."

"I swear, you're addicted to that stuff." Yugi joked, matching up cards that could help each other in a duel.

"It keeps me awake, it boosts my Shadow Magic, it's practically the miracle solution sent from Ra himself." Alison laughed, getting out her favorite coffee mug and creamer.

"Whatever you say," Yugi joked.

"Hey, Alison, toss me another soda." Malik demanded.

"Get it yourself." Alison grumbled. A second later an empty soda can hit the back of her head, but instead of falling to the ground it floated in the air, supported by shadows. "Ow! Jeez, no fair using Shadow Magic while the coffee's still brewing."

"Just get me another freaking Pepsi." Malik said. Alison begrudgingly got a Pepsi from the fridge and threw it at Malik, who stopped it with more Shadow Magic.

_"You're welcome."_ Alison said sarcastically.

"Hey, say thanks to my Hikari." A.J demanded.

"Make me." Malik challenged, tapping the top of the can to make the fizz die down. But when he opened it, an impossibly huge geyser shot out and hit him right in the face. "HEY!"

"Thats for hitting her with a soda can. Now say thank you." A.J said, uncrossing then recrossing her legs the other way.

"I don't know why I even put up with you…" Malik said.

"Because without us, this house would fall apart."

/Thanks, A.J/ Alison said through the mind link.

/Any time, Aibou, any time./

"…And remember, no flash photography is permitted at any time." The curator said before letting the guides take over. Today's field trip was to an art museum, which translated to another day stuck in hell for the Yami-Hikari group and those associated with it.

"Why does out class have to visit the _actual_ museum last?" A.J muttered as they were shuffled into a room filled with Renaissance paintings.

"I don't know. But it looks like those two are certainly enjoying themselves already." Bakura mumbled to her, pointing at their two hikari's. You could practically see sparkles in Ryou and Alison's eyes as they took in the beautiful paintings. "How much do you think we could get for these? Maybe even just that small one over there?" Bakura asked as Malik fell back to join in on the conversation, his ability to sense when scheming was going on kicking in.

"Making our evening plans, thief king?" he asked, causing Bakura to growl.

"I told you not to call me that in public. House and heists only."

"Yes sir." Malik laughed sarcastically.

While A.J, Malik, and Bakura planned how to lift some of the paintings that night and scope out what security the place had, the Yugi, Marik, and Yami tried to pay attention to what the guide was saying. After all, the purpose of the day was to learn about something to do with these paintings.

When they reached a room filled with old Greek and Roman paintings, Ryou and Alison were practically falling over the velvet roping separating viewers from the paintings.

"Alison, which God is that?" Ryou whispered, pointing to a man in all black with his cloak trailing tendrils of darkness. "You're into all that mythology stuff."

"My best guess is the Greek God Erebus. God of darkness. He was in control of the kind of purgatory between Hades and Earth. The girl next to him is Nyx, Goddess of the night."

"….And here we have a portrait of Erebus, the Greek God of darkness. Beside him is Nyx, Goddess of night. Depending on the situation, these two can be mother and son, lovers, brother and sister, or father and daughter…" The guide droned and Alison gave a mini-victory fist pump.

While the rest of the group circled the room, Alison and Ryou lingered by the portrait of the two deities of darkness.

"… Did you just see that?" Ryou asked suddenly.

"What? See what?" Alison asked. Ryou pointed at the portrait.

"There. Their eye's flashed red and I swear I saw some weird symbol on her neck…"

"…Are you serious?"

"Why, do you think I'm joking?"

"No, it's just that… with us, something like that happens, it usually isn't good."

"No kidding…"

/Oi, Ryou, you and Alicat need to get a move on./ Bakura warned through the mind link. Ryou gently elbowed Alison and the two took off, hurrying to catch up with the group.

"You should definitely talk to the others about this." Alison said.


	3. Chapter 3

Darker than Shadows

When the Yami-Hikari family got home, Bakura immediately grabbed Ryou and locked eyes with him.

"You said that their eyes glowed red."

"Yes."

"Do you feel alright?"

"Bakura, I feel fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"And a symbol on Nyx's neck? What did it look like?"

"If you let me go I'll draw it out."

Bakura released Ryou's shirt collar and Ryou went to go grab his notepad and pen from the kitchen.

"Alison, what about you. You didn't see the glowing?" Malik asked. Alison shook her head.

"No, and I was right there. But no."

Ryou emerged from the kitchen with a scrap of paper with a drawing on it.

"Let me see that." A.J said, taking the paper. "Looks like the generic symbol of darkness, I'm guessing Greek."

"Makes sense. Greek portrait, Greek symbol." Marik chimed in.

The mood of the house felt like a team on a mission, but the undercurrent was subdued panic. In their household, no matter how much chaos they created willingly, they knew that they couldn't afford for something to happen that might cause some damage without their doing it voluntarily.

"Does this mean I have to go into quarantine?" Ryou asked.

"We're not going to quarantine you, Ryou." Marik assured.

"Well…" Malik mussed "Maybe just house arrest. What if he goes crazy during school? The government wont take kindly to 8 teenagers with Shadow Magic living on their own."

Ryou nodded slowly "Just… someone better bring me my assignments. If I get behind on my school work because of this I'm going to tear that portrait in half. Especially if it's over nothing."

"We'll grab that portrait on tonight's heist so we can study it." Bakura said. "Speaking of," he continued, "We need to plan for that. Innocent, law abiding hikaris plus Yami, out. Malik, try and find the blueprints for the museum if we have them. A.J, start grabbing the supplies. If we need anything special, we'll get them after."

"And what are you doing, mister bossy pants? You got to make the lift list last time." Malik complained.

"No I didn't, A.J did." Bakura argued, pulling out a notebook and pen.

"Yeah, well I still got stuck with the blueprints while you two have all the fun." Malik grumbled while A.J came back with two tool kits of lock picks, sensor overloads, and various other tricks to get past all kinds of security.

"Right, well, this is when we take our leave." Alison said, following the yami's rule. No matter how loyal they were to their yamis, they weren't allowed to bear witness to any of their heists and planning sessions, just in case the police got to them and made them crack.

Ryou and Alison settled at the ends of the game room couch with their books while Yugi, Yami and Marik sat in the middle playing Aliens Vs. Predator.

"Marik, I need back up!" Yugi shouted.

"Bit busy here, mister so-called-game-king. I've got these two headed ones attacking me with all they've got!"

"You two need to be quiet and just get over to the freaking exit!" Yami commanded.

"Boys." Alison said, rolling her eyes with the hint of a smile. Ryou placed his legs out behind the gamer's backs and stretched a bit.

"Malik, no. I'm sorry, but theres no way in hell we can get an eight foot by ten foot painting out stealthily and get it- what was that?"

All three yami's drew weapons hidden on their person and looked around.

"What. What happened?" A.J asked.

"Can't you feel it? Shadow Magic. But… stronger. A lot stronger." Bakura said. The three looked at each other before saying "Ryou" and darting to the game room.

"OW! Hey, Bakura, get off me!" Ryou said, while Bakura tried to pry the book away from Ryou's face.

"Let me see your eyes." Bakura commanded.

"What?"

"_Let me see your eyes._" Bakura growled.

Ryou lowered the book and Bakura looked at his eyes. "Bakura, what are you doing?"

Bakura sighed and just shook his head "False alarm, I guess. I'm probably just paranoid."

"Seriously? Are you kidding me?" Malik groaned, sheathing his knife and returning to the living room.

"What the hell just happened?" Marik asked, picking up his controller.

"I thought I sensed really powerful shadow magic, and with that glowing painting we thought something had happened." Bakura said.

"I think we would've called out if Ryou went all bat shit crazy." Marik huffed as Yami un-paused the game.

"Yeah, but if we could preferably stop you guys from being hurt in the first place you'd thank us a helluva lot more." A.J grumbled before she and Bakura returned to the living room to join Malik again.

"Well that was interesting." Yugi commented, only half focusing on the game and still keeping a head of Yami and Marik.

"I'm not looking forward to the next few weeks." Ryou groaned "Every time someone senses something I'm gonna get pinned. This is going to be real fun."

"It's not that much different from when we play "get down mister president" though." Yami said in an attempt at condolence.

"Oh Ra, don't bring that up." Marik groaned "I've still got marks from when you guys got me on gravel."

"Do you think you can turn that down?" Ryou asked, motioning to the video game.

"Ryou, I'm shocked you could say such a thing! The audio part of the game is just as part of the experience as the visual!" Yugi joked.

"Fine then, I'll be reading in my room." Ryou replied, bookmarking his page and retreating to his room.

"Think he's gonna be alright in there?" Yami asked.

"He should be fine, don't worry so much." Marik said. "No, no, no, Yugi don't you dare steal that ammo- NO!"

When Ryou closed the door behind him, his eye's flashed red once before returning to brown and Ryou clutched his head.

"Who are you. What do you want." He asked through gritted teeth.

"I want to help you, Ryou." A silken female voice said. "Thats all,"

"And how exactly could you help me?" Ryou demanded. "No offense, but ominous sounding voice plus glowing red eyes on the picture of two gods of darkness doesn't exactly sound like a good promise."

The voice chuckled, setting Ryou's nerves on edge "Darkness does not mean evil, my child. It's nothing to fear. Darkness is pure, and strong. Much stronger than that weak magic trick you call Shadow Magic."

"Get out. Leave me alone." Ryou demanded before heading to his bed. He nearly screamed, however, when a semi-transparent woman materialized beside his bed.

"Is that any way to treat a proper lady?" The woman chuckled.

"Y-you're Nyx. That Greek Goddess from the painting." Ryou stammered.

"Nice observation, Ryou. Now, please, let me help you. I won't do anything bad, I promise."

"Yeah right," Ryou scoffed "Do you really think I'm going to fall for that? What do you need, permission to possess my body so you can do some physical damage to people? Cause some mayhem?"

Nyx's midnight black eyes hardened, all signs of any feigned kindness gone.

"If you want to be like that, fine." She said sternly, reaching out to Ryou "But no, I don't need _permission _to possess you."

Before Ryou could even act to stop her, she lightly touched the right side of his chest and vanished. After a second, Ryou's eyes flashed red again and he grinned before moving to the high tech desktop Bakura had procured and began to look up the next big event happening in Domino.


	4. Chapter 4

Darker Than Shadows

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Yugi asked Ryou. They were sitting at a small table under a shady during lunch at the science museum, eating away at their food. Ryou had insisted that he would come to this field trip, and after a few screaming matches, finally got his way. Everyone let him come simply because Ryou only screamed if something was important to him.

"Yes, Yugi, I feel fine." Ryou said for what felt like the hundredth time.

"But last night-"

"Last night I was just tired and fell asleep reading my book, thats all." Ryou speared his mashed potatoes, beginning to get annoyed with their questions.

When Ryou hadn't emerged to make dinner, and because no one else in the house could make much more than cereal, it caused reason for worry. Eventually Marik found him asleep in his room, and once he was able to rouse him, Ryou needed a few minutes to treat a major migraine he had gotten.

Ryou hadn't remembered a thing about Nyx from the previous night. The only subtle clue he had to something being off was when his vision would darken slightly or fade out for a second. Though it frightened him slightly, Ryou didn't think it was worth mentioning it to the rest of the family. But if it got worse, he made a mental note to go see a doctor.

Everyone began silently eating again, except for Malik and Bakura who got into an argument because of a guard they'd only haphazardly hidden away after knocking him out during the heist last night.

While the hikari's had gone off to the terrarium, the yamis were gathered around the alligator tank.

"Something is definitely off about Ryou." Bakura muttered.

"You don't think it has to do with that portrait, do you?" A.J whispered.

"We might have to watch him closer… But we'll have to examine that thing when we get home." Yami said.

"The stupid thing wont move." A young boy said.

"Yeah, move your big ass!" His friend said, throwing a bottle cap at the alligators.

The green cap bounced off of the albino alligator's white hide. The animal lifted it's head a bit before lowering it with a grunt.

"Stupid animal…" The boy who threw the bottle cap muttered.

"Hey, kid," Malik growled. The two boys turned around and were greeted by Malik's angry crazy face. It's one thing when he's laughing maniacally with a sadistic grin on his face. It's another when he's glaring at you while Shadow's whirl around him.

Malik balled his fists and clenched his teeth, eyebrow's furrowing to create the picture you should hope to only see as a fleeting image in nightmares.

Both kids "eeped" before turning and hightailed it out of there, one with a conspicuous wet spot on his trousers.

"Stupid kids…" Malik mumbled before stopping the Shadows and turning back to the gators.

"You really like these alligators, don't you?" A.J asked.

Malik just shrugged, but the normal current of insanity that shone behind his eye's was subdued as he watched the alligators.

The albino one lifted it's head once and seemed to nod before settling back down and resuming it's slumber.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" The security guard approached the person standing in front of the reserved room. _Probably a lost grandma._ The guard thought, taking in the long white hair. When they turned around, he saw he was completely off in his thinking and it was actually a young boy. "Oh, sorry sir." He said, rubbing the nape of his neck. "You're not allowed to be here." The guard nodded to the "Off Limits" sign. The ballroom was to be kept in good condition for a formal gathering of different scientists and professors taking place that night.

The boy said nothing, just stared blankly at the guard. "Excuse me, sir!" The guard said louder, thinking the boy didn't hear him. "You're not allowed to be here. You need to leave."

The boy's dull eye's appeared to turn red before the guard found himself slammed against the wall. Panicking, the guard struggled to free himself. The only thing he saw binding him, however, was a pure black band against his chest.

"H-hel-!" He tried to cry out when his mouth was covered by the same black energy.

"You'll be silent if you know whats good for you." The white haired boy chuckled. "I'll admit though, thank you for giving me a chance to exercise my power a bit. A few millennia lazing about has left me awfully uncoordinated,"

Nyx, possessing Ryou's body, enjoyed seeing the fear in the guard's eyes. "But then again, I've always been a natural."

"Mmm-hmm-mmm-bfffff-mmmm!" The guard tried to shout. The binding around his mouth tightened in response.

"Now now now, I told you to be quiet. For not following my rule's I'll have to teach you a lesson. I hope you're not afraid of the dark."

Before the guard had time to think about what that meant, he was gone. The only thing left of him in this realm was his torch, which clattered to the linoleum floor.

Nyx turned back to the room, resuming her work using Ryou as her weapon to use her Dark Magic.

_I'll have to find a willing acolyte soon. They can cause so much more mayhem. _She thought to herself.

"Ryou! Where the hell were you?!" Marik demanded when they caught up with the albino. They'd found him in the marine life exhibit, wandering about aimlessly.

"I just had to use the loo, relax." Ryou said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I thought I told you guys, sorry."

"Ryou, you can't just go wondering off on your own." Yugi said urgently. "You know-"

"Yes yes, I know. I have to have constant watch because I might be a danger to myself and others. I'm sorry, I just really had to go."

"Ryou…" Marik cautioned.

"Guys, just give him a break. You gotta go, you gotta go." Alison said, eager to get back to the exhibitions. "While we're here, lets go check out the tide pool room! We can hold a starfish and everything!"

She grabbed Yugi's hand and ran off, a blush betraying the violet eyed teen as he tried to keep up with the overzealous girl.

"Those two, I swear." Malik laughed. "Sorry about being so hard on you, Ry. I just know that if something happens to you it's us that gets blamed by Bakura."

"No hard feelings," Ryou said, soothing the blonde Egyptian. "Now come on, let's go make sure those two haven't found a nice supply closet to hang out in."

"Like either of them could get over their shyness for even more than a peck if they _did _find one." Marik joked, lightly elbowing the albino before the two hurried off to the tidal pool room.


	5. Chapter 5

Darker Than Shadows

At six o'clock A.J and Bakura lounged in the living room watching a scary movie, utterly indifferent to the gore on screen except when something was inaccurate or done poorly.

"A microwaved head wouldn't just explode like that. It'd puff up like a marshmallow first." A.J said.

"Totally. You know whats bugging me about this whole movie though?" Bakura asked

"What?"

"The blood from the girl's murder yesterday thats on the wall. It's still red." Bakura pointed out.

"…I didn't notice that before. What the hell?" A.J rolled her eyes. Upstairs they could hear Alison squealing before there was a loud "thud" and the same hikari going "Ouch!"

"I told you not to have that extra cup of coffee! Why does no one ever listen to me?!" Yami shouted. A second thump was heard and Yami simply exclaimed "Yugi!"

"So do you know what Malik ran off doing as soon as we got home?" A.J asked, scooting closer to Bakura as he draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Not a clue. Knowing that idiot though, I'd gue-"

Before Bakura could complete his sentence, the front door slammed open and Malik swaggered in with a large white creature lumbering along happily behind him.

"Malik you did not!" A.J exclaimed sitting up.

"What? She wasn't happy in that shit hole. We could give her a better home here!" Malik defended, crouching down to pat the beast's head. She snapped at him lightly, but not nearly fast enough to actually hurt the yami. "Besides, I've already named her and figured out how we'd be able to keep her and everything!"

"Malik, we are not keeping the alligator." Bakura said, his face in his hand. "We've already got the A.J and I's snakes, Alison's hedgehog, Marik's turtle, that damn cat that keeps visiting here, and Joey to feed. What the hell makes you think we could keep a 700 pound alligator!"

"Actually, she's an albino Nile Crocodile. I'm still wondering how the hell those "specialists" managed to screw that up. Besides, Akila doesn't eat much. They barely fed her at that museum."

"Oh Ra he wasn't kidding when he said he named it." A.J said as she facepalmed.

"I don't care what you guys think, but I'm keeping her. I'm going to go rearrange the swimming pool a bit and change the water. C'mon Akila." Malik headed out to the back yard, crocodile following after him like a puppy. The creature's large tail knocked over a vase which fell to the floor and shattered.

"Ryou's not going to be happy about that…" A.J said. "Speaking of, where is the cream puff? Dinner should be cooking already."

"He went to his room as soon as we got home while we were examining that portrait." Bakura answered. "Should we go check on him?"

Upstairs, one scream and three boys swearing loudly were heard before the bedroom door burst open and the other three hikaris plus Yami came running out.

"Why the hell is there an alligat-"

"Crocodile." A.J corrected. Bakura was settled back against the couch with his eye's closed, visiting either his or Ryou's soul room.

"_Crocodile_ in the freaking backyard?!" Alison demanded.

"It's Malik's new pet. I don't recommend telling him to get rid of it though, he's already more attached to it than he is to Marik."

"Hey!" Marik complained. After a minute of incoherent mumbling the four pulled themselves together to know something was off.

"Why isn't dinner cooking?" Yami asked. A.J nodded to Bakura.

"He's checking on the chef." She said "But… something's wrong." She said, suddenly worried. Clearly the white haired yami had alerted A.J of something through their mind link. A second later Bakura gasped and stood up before running to Ryou's room.

"Bakura! What wrong?" Yugi asked as the rest of them followed after him.

"A.J, what happened?" Alison asked as Bakura tried to open the door but found it locked. In a second he'd pulled out his lock picking kit and went at the first lock.

"There's another door in Ryou's soul." A.J whispered as Bakura kicked open the door.

They were greeted by an empty room. Bakura immediately went to the computer and looked up the internet history while A.J began searching the room.

"Yami, go get Malik." She commanded.

"I'm not going out by that thi-"

"Yami! Go. Get. Malik." She said through clenched teeth. A mist of Shadow magic covered the floor while the other two yami's began tearing through everything.

While Yami ran out to get Malik, A.J spun around with an empty hanger and dry cleaning cover. "That suit of his is gone."

"Where the hell would he go where he would need a suit?" Marik asked.

"The Science museum." A.J and Bakura said in unison as Malik walked in.

The two yamis filled Malik in while the hikaris and Yami sat and waited for their explanation.

After the three yamis took a minute to think of a plan to go forth with, they turned to fill in the others.

"So it appears Nyx or Erebos, one of the two from the painting, has made Ryou's soul their new home. According to Ryou's internet history he's taken interest to the gathering of the geeks at the science museum, and due to the fact that his suit is missing I'd say that he's on the way or already there. Who knows what Nyx or Erebos is planning to do." A.J explained.

"Okay, so what exactly does that mean?" Yami asked.

"It means that within the hour we've gotta look sophisticated enough to pass as a big shot and sneak our way into this geek dinner." Bakura said. He went off to the communal closet, mostly filled with disguises and clothing no one at all, if ever.

"Does anyone else need a trip into the black hole to find something fancy?" Malik asked pausing in the door frame.

Yami and Marik followed the other two out while A.J and Alison went to their room.

"So let me get this straight," Alison said as she slipped into a billowing purple silk dress. "Ryou's being possessed by a Greek God or Goddess and is about to do something presumably evil to some super smart people and we've gotta dress up to blend in and somehow get him home?"

"Well the plan is to hopefully do that all inconspicuously, which knowing our family will_ not _be happening. So I think once we get home and wipe a few memories we're going to interrogate this Greek deity until they tell us whats up and get the hell out of Ryou." A.J answered. She turned around and held out the ribbon to her flowing black dress for Alison to tie.

"What if they don't want to leave Ryou?" Alison asked, tying the ribbons together into a bow.

"Then I guess we find a way to make them leave," A.J shrugged "I could always blow it up." She grinned.

The two girls began raiding the golden box from their first heist that was now filled with jewelry and a few loose gems. A.J chose a hanging sapphire on a black opal studded chain, and a tanzanite ring while Alison opted for a chain of water sapphires which connected then went three down on one strand, matching earrings, along with a gold ring with a black and white pearl.

"You don't happen to have any nice shoes, do you?" Alison asked while twisting her mousey brown hair into a top bun, allowing two strands to fall and frame her face.

"That will require a trip to the costume closet." A.J answered, messing with her own dirty blonde hair. "Shall we?"

"We shall,"

"Just remember, we're not going to this event for fun," Bakura said, briefing Yami, Yugi, Marik, and Malik all of whom were wearing tuxedoes. "So keep your head in the game and try to remain inconspicuous. You can't let your focus waiver from the mission."

"Bakura, we're just grabbing Ryou then coming home. You don't have to talk to them like it's an army battle plan." Malik grumbled.

"I'm just making sure they know what to do. You, A.J and I are the only one's really used to doing something like this."

"Bakura, I'm insulted." Marik joked.

Before the white haired yami could respond, the sound of high heels walking down the stairs was heard.

"First order of business when we've got free time is to buy some formal flats that we'll hopefully never have to use." A.J complained.

"I'm with you one hundred and ten percent on that one." Alison agreed, nearly tripping on the bottom step.

"… Bakura? Yugi?" Marik snapped his fingers in front of the two boy's faces. They'd zoned out the moment the two girl's had come into view and needed a minute to regain their composure.

"Things were so much easier before they got here…" Yami said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, we got down within an hour." A.J argued, assuming Yami was complaining about them being the last ones down.

"Lets just go and get this over with," Malik groaned, tugging on his collar "The sooner we can get out of these monkey suits the better."

_AN: Updates might slow down because the internet has been crashing a lot, and I've started getting homework which means less time to write. _


End file.
